Hayward man dies after car plunges into water near Oakland airport

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First responders from Oakland remove a vehicle from the estuary off of Dolittle Drive in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Feb. 18, 2017. A report of a car into the water came in shortly after 8 a.m. One person is dead. (Dan Honda/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND — A Hayward man died Friday morning when a car ran off Doolittle Drive and landed upside down in waters near Oakland International Airport, authorities said.

The man’s name was not released, pending notification of relatives.

The wreck was reported about 8:12 a.m. on Doolittle near Langley Street. Firefighters could see a car upside down in about 12 feet of water about 20 feet from shore, along the Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline, authorities said.

The man had apparently been traveling westbound in the 7200 block of Doolittle when the car, a Toyota Camry, left the roadway and went into the water, police said.

An Alameda Fire Department boat and rescue divers from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department responded to the scene.

Doolittle Drive was closed while emergency personnel were at the scene. No other people were found inside the car.

Harry Harris is a Pulitzer Prize winning breaking news reporter for the Bay Area News Group. He began his Oakland Tribune career in September 1965 as a 17-year-old copyboy. He became a reporter in 1972 and is considered one of the best crime and breaking news reporters in the country. He has covered tens of thousands of murders and other crimes in the East Bay. He has also mentored dozens of young reporters, some of whom continue to work in journalism today.

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